April 7, 2016
By Paul Joseph, Paragon Communications News Director –
The Clinton City Council heard more information Tuesday night on reverse osmosis effluent disposal wells that is part of the package that may be included in the plans for the city’s proposed water treatment plant.
Building the disposal well is one of the ways waste is handled that’s X generated by a reverse osmosis water treatment plant.
Many in Clinton tend to be somewhat leery when they hear the words disposal well and that the city wants to build one. There’s been negative news about salt water injection wells associated with the oil and gas industry and their tie to the recent outburst of earthquakes around the state.
City Manager Mark Skiles says reverse osmosis effluent disposal wells are pretty much “part-and-parcel” for reverse osmosis water treatment plants and that DEQ will be overseeing the plans and the plant, once built. He says there are other ways to treat the effluent, but a disposal well could be the best way.
Skiles says he was approached a few weeks ago by a Clinton man, Luther Newman, who was concerned about the construction of a disposal well in Clinton and had informed himself on the topic and wanted to share with the council what he’d found.
Several Clinton residents that came to the meeting were interested in asking questions about disposal wells, but were unable to get their questions considered because it wasn’t on the agenda as a question and answer session.
So, city leaders are discussing a special meeting to allow that to happen, a Town Hall meeting.
Clinton’s new water improvement plan which includes drilling new wells and building a new water treatment plant will run right at $29.5-million-dollars.
The plant will be built north of West Modelle Avenue on a 32-acre tract of land east of the Clinton High School FFA barn and should take 12-15 months of construction time once their engineers get started. They’re currently waiting on DEQ’s approval of their plans.
Skiles says most of the current “buzz” in town revolves around the naming of a new Clinton Fire Chief. He says he’s just about made his decision and should soon be able to announce it.
He adds that he knows “where (he’s) going to go.”
Clinton’s most recent Fire Chief Danny Cox submitted his resignation in mid-December to return back to the Sulphur, Oklahoma area where he and his family have ties, according to City Manager Mark Skiles.
The 40-year-old Cox started as the Clinton Fire Chief on August 20, 2015 and replaced the retiring Randy Carpenter.
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